My initial thoughts on tinkercad are that it provides an easy and free solution to 3D modeling that not many other similar services can provide. I think it's pretty easy to use compared to other software, but it also lacks in what you can create with it. While using it I feel like I have lomited shapes and objects that I can create and the whole system of grouping a solid object and a hole object together to create specific shapes is really foreign and strange to me. I am used to another program called cinema 4d and while it isn't exactly free it offers much more in means of creating more fluid objects. However, for making simple 3D models to be easily exported and printed tinkercad does its job. Below is a 3D model I created with cinema 4d.
0 Comments
Technology affects out society in ways that we do not even understand yet. Throughout history, technology has been a major focal point in building a society, but now days with electronic technology it is hard to see what will come next. Today, technology is involved an many of our jobs and day to day life stiles in first world countries. Technology allows people to socialize, work, and connect with people all around the world. Without this technology we have today, obtaining information would be much more difficult and, of course, not instant. We are fortunate enough to have hundreds of years of history and knowledge at our fingertips, but what will this endless knowledge bring us? The technology we have today affects us by providing for us in many different ways.
War is the fighting of men and women on opposing sides. They may be the same or different nationalities, but either way people die. War tears families and countries apart and can ruin some people's lives. Sometimes the people fighting the war lose sight of what they were fighting for. Some countries or groups fight to push their political or religious stances and some fight over resources, control, and power. War is not good.
War can be beneficial, or it can be destructive. What we don't realize is everyone who fights in a war thinks they are on the good side, but what really determines this is the actions they are forced to take and the outcome of the war. War can save lives, but in the process it mat take even more. Regardless of what we think about it war has been a part of human civilization for hundreds of years and will probably never completely go away. War changes us by allowing some to keep their freedom and by ripping freedom away from others. Yesterday we had a guest speaker and some of the circle of friends join us. At first I was very uncomfortable as I have very little experience with handicapped people, and I agreed with a lot of what the guest speaker guessed we were feeling. It was odd to see her talk about each of them and why they are the way they are right in front of them, but since they are non verbal they couldn't understand. Having no way to exactly communicate with someone due to their disabilities is something that would take a long time for me to understand. My sister was a circle of friends volunteer for a few years, but she is the kind of person who is patient and understanding with everyone. I noticed that many of the friends who joined us had cerebral palsy.
Remember the household maid robot, Rosie, from the Jetsons? Well, this joke cracking humanoid robot may not be as unrealistic as you thought. Robots play an ever increasing role in society today; from manufacturing almost all of the items used on a day to day basis to serving us and saving lives, robots make our lives easier. Robots today may not be as advanced as the ones seen in fictional television shows like the Jetsons, but with the right programming and robotics it is currently possible to create humanoid service robots. However, the key to making them indistinguishable from humans is artificial intelligence, the next big step in advancement. Today, robots “take on undesirable jobs” that increase in productivity when completed by a robot rather than a human (DeLong par. 1). Both industrial robots and service robots are projected to increase in numbers and jobs in the next two decades, shaping tomorrow.
Robots have been “a staple in books, shows, movies, and pop culture” since the 1920s (Hall par. 1). Most robots in pop culture have artificial intelligence and are very humanoid. These fictional robots could provide insight into what could happen if robots with AI were created, even the more far out ones. 2015’s Ex Machina showed a perfect example of what could happen if AI was created. In the movie a billionaire creates the first AI using is a Google like search engine called BlueBook. This is a very good example of AI because in the movie the AI turns on the humans, the AI completes service tasks, and the AI passes the Turing test. Not only are robots becoming more common in pop culture they are also becoming more common in industrial settings like factories. The rise of automation is upon the world and “Oxford University Researchers have estimated that 47 percent of U.S. jobs” maybe be automated in the next twenty years (Ford par. 3). Their impact on fiction and reality is only going to increase in the future. Robots have a wide range of jobs and application. Service robots and industrial robots are the two main categories of robots. The first, service robots, perform “useful tasks for humans” unlike industrial robots (LEO Robotics par. 7). In fiction, service robots would consist of the something like the aforementioned Rosie from the Jetsons, a maid robot. While it may seem far off now, household robots may be a common sight in the future. The second, industrial robots, perform repetitive, unwanted, or extremely difficult tasks that are not fit for humans. Rbotos can out perform humans in many fields, resulting in more jobs that used to be done by people becoming automated. Many robots in the service industry are in the works and have a lot of room for improvement. The fact is that robots make people’s lives better. Industrial robots take many forms, one being mechanical arms that are able to lift and move faster than a human, The best part is robots only need electricity to work, the don’t get tired. Today, robots are more specialized at one thing and cannot perform many jobs. Artificial intelligence and new robotics will allow for more advanced robots that can perform several jobs and think for themselves, rather than being programmed for one thing. If AI, or artificial intelligence, is created it will be “the mother of all tech revolutions” since the automobile in the early 1900s (Maney par. 13). AI could lead to major improvements in all fields, including the medical field and “will be better than humans at diagnosing” illness (Maney 21). Isaac Asimov came up with the “Three Laws of Robotics” that were once only known to fiction, however, they might be used in reality. These laws state that “a robot may not injure a human being” and “must obey orders given” to it by a human (Vest par. 1). The robot must also protect itself without violating either of the previous laws. If an AI was given or came up with the idea that humans are inferior to it then it would attempt to overthrow the humans. Since an AI has control over its programming it could easily removed Asimov’s laws and spread throughout the world wide internet, taking control of any robots and computers connected. Of course, this is unlikely and very far out as AI is not yet close to being created. However, this theoretically possible future has already been explored in movies like Terminator and War Games. So, will AI be the next step in the evolution of technology? Right now, quantum computers are being developed that leave the binary computers that control today’s robots in the dust. Even in early development the D-Wave 2x “is 100 million times faster” than the machines that run today’s robots (Basulto par. 2). Google even has its own “Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab” that may be the first to create real AI. Robots will advance dramatically in the next few decades and rather than being a hobby or a toy they will become public servants. Don’t expect any robots taking over the world or driving your children to school any time soon, but know that robots will play a very important role in the future. What will your personal robot look like? |